Street lettee box



`v(No Model.)

I. G. LANE.

STREET L'ETTEE BOX.

No. 446,257. Patented Feb. 10,1891.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IRA G. LANE, OF NFV YORK, N. Y.

.., STREET LETTER-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 446,257, dated February 10, 1891.

Application led August 28, 1890. Serial No. 363,333. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, IRA G. LANE, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Letter or Mail Box, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Myinvention relates to letter or mail boxes of that class commonly used upon lamp-posts or other outdoor supports to facilitate collection of mail-rnatter for accommodation of the public; and theinvention has for its object to provide an eicient, reliable, conveniently-op erative box of this character.

The invention will first be described, and then will be particularly defined in the claims hereinafter set forth.

Referenceis to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure lis a rear perspective view of my let.- ter or mailbox and part of a lamp-post to which it is attached. Fig. 2 is a detail top perspective view of the two-part rear cap-plate of the box. Fig. 3 is a detail front view of the lower door portion of the box. Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken through the box on the line Qc 0c in Fig. l, and showing the box closed. Fig. 5 is a like view with the box opened both at its upper receiving or drop lid and at its lower discharge doors, and partly broken away; and Fig. 6 is a detail sectional plan view taken on the line y y in Fig. 4.

I propose to make my letter or Inail box entirely of iron to promote its strength and durability and the security of its contents, and at the same time provide a most substantial and neatly-finished connection of the box to ordinary lamp-posts to which mail-boxes are usually attached.

To the rear side or face of the main bodyA of the box is iixed a back plate B, which is preferably cast separately, and is fastened to the box-body by 1ivet-pins,which pass through pairs of lugs b formed on the box and plate. This back plate is convexed outward at its vertical central portion to provide room inside of it for the lamp-post C, on a shoulder or bead c of which the back plate rests to sustain the box. To give a more attractive liinish to the box than the open top of the rear or back plate would afford, I provide this plate with a cap or cover D, which is preferably made in two parts ddto allow its application to the back plate and around the lamp-post. The cap has'v a sloping surface to shed rain easily, and is preferably provided with a pendent marginal flange d', which overlaps the outer face of the back plate. The cap may be held to the box-body and its back or hanger plate in any approved manner. I show the two parts d d of the cap provided each with a lug or lip d2, which is passed through a slot in the back of the box-bodybeneath its top plate a, and is held by a bolt d3, which I prefer to utilize also for fastening to the body A an upper hood E, presently described. It

`will be seen that the back plate B gives a more substantial connection of the box to a post-support than rings or collars commonly employed for the purpose, and said back plate, more especially when the cap D is used with it, gives a very neat and ornamental tinish to the box and its post-support.

The hood E is intended to protect from rain, snow, or other storms mail-matter such as newspapers and packages too large to be passed into the box-body through its front letterV-drop-lid opening, and which are usually left exposed upon the tops of ordinary mailboxes. I show the hood E made with opposite lower flanges, through which pass the above-named bolts d3 and front bolts d4. The hood-flanges are preferably let into rabbets at the top a of the box-body A, and the bolts d3 'd4 preferably have countersunk heads, which leave the body top or iioor on which the mail-matter rests beneath the hood perfectly ilat and unobstructed to allow most convenient placing of mail-matter under or within the hood and as convenient collection of matter therefrom. I prefer to make the hood E open at Vboth ends; but it may be left open only at one end by casting a flange on it, which will close its other end. The hood is also preferably provided with a front apron e, forming an auxiliary hood or guard, to prevent entrance of rain or snow into the main box-body through the mail-deposit opening when the drop-lid F is open, said apron also serving as an auxiliary fender or guard against abstraction of mail from the box through the drop-lid opening.v

The drop-lid F is hinged at its lower edge IOO l by a pin f to the front wall of the box-body A and has end flanges f', formililg guards, which at their inner parts or corners have lips or flanges f2, which limit the opening of .the lid by contact with the box front. To the end guard-anges f ot the drop-lid is hinged at g. as near as may be to the lid front, a tray G, which swings freely on its pivot g, and is preferably concaved at its upper face or is made of a metal plate having a concavo convex form transversely, and which is adapted to rest upon a rod or bar H, which is attached to the box front and ycrosses the droplid opening of the box. When the drop-lid is pulled open, the free swinging tray G will, by riding over the cross-rod or bar II,be swung up into about horizontal position, as shown in Fig. 5 of 'the drawings, to receive letters or other inail-matter, and as the droplid is closed the tray then swings down automatically behind t-he rod II and will drop the mail-matter into the box, as will be understood from Fig. 4 of the drawings. It will be noticed that the drop-lid having this swinging tray attached is quite self-closing, as the riding backward of the lower face of the gravitating tray over the rod H operates to close the lid and hold it closed. Hence it requires the slightest touch of the hand only to start the drop-lid inward, whereupon it closes of itself and remains closed until intentionally opened again to drop mail-matter into the box. It will also be seen that the shape, location, and general arrangement of the tray relatively with the drop-lid and the box-deposit opening are such that it is practically impossible to abstract mail-matter from saidopening past the tray, which thus forms a reliable guard at the opening.

Y I make the mail-discharge openin'g of my letter-box at both its front and bottom portions and employ doors I J, respectively, at said openings. The door I is hinged at 7l at its upper edge tothe box front, and the door J is hinged at j at its rear edge to the box bottom a?. The door I is provided at each end with an inwardly-projecting guard-plate K of angular form and widest at the bottom, and the door J is provided with corresponding end guard-plates L, of angular t'orm and widest lat their forward ends. These pairs of guardplates K L lap on each other at each end or side of the mailbox, and the plates on one discharge-door are provided with pins which work in slots in the plates on the other door and cause both doors to open and close simultaneously. I prefer to tix the pins M in the guards K of the front door I, and to make the slots N, which receive the pins, in the guards:

L of the bottom door J. By pulling a knob O, xed to the front door I, both dischargedoors will be opened simultaneously, as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings, and by pushing in the door I both doors will be closed at once, as in Fig. 4, and may be so secured by any suitable lock device P, preferably on the front guards by the said matter.

door and adapted to engage an eye or detent Ap on the other door, said lock being openable by a key insertedV at a hole -R in the front door. Any other suitable lock may be used. I also provide guards S S, one at each side of the main box-body and fixed at Vone edge thereto and overhan gin g the door-guard plates K L, to prevent retention of the mail-matter by the guards and prevent clogging of the (See Figs. 4;, 5, and 6 ot the drawings.) rlhe door-guards prevent discharge of the mail-matter through the open doors to either side and assure direct sliding of the matter into a bag or pouch held below the doors. To assure discharge of mail from the box, an inclined and preferably slightly-con caved chute -plate T is fixed within the box at its lower rear corner, and whereby, when the doors I J are opened, all the mail-matter in the box will fall at once from it into the pouch or receptacle carried by the collector.

If desired, the swinging tray Gin the droplid may be provided with a slot g', through which letters may be dropped directly into the body of the mail-box when the drop-lid is open, said slot being shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings. The transverse rod or resistance piece H, which the tray G rides over as the drop-lid opens, may be substituted byan upward extension of the front plate of the boxbody, as will readily be understood.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is i l. A mail-box provided with a rear attaching and supporting plate concaved to accom` modate a post-support between it and the body of the box, substantially as described.

2. A mail-box provided with a rear attaching and supporting plate concaved to accommodate a post-support between it and the body of the box, and a cap-plate or cover fitted to the box and rear plate and around the post-support, substantially as described.

3. A mail-box provided with a top hood forming a weather.- guarded newspaper or package compartment on the box, said hood having an auxiliary apron shielding the box drop-lid and adjacent opening, substantially as described.

4. A mail-box having a hinged drop-lid provided with a swinging tray, combined with a relatively stationary rod or resistance piece on the box-body, substantially as described, whereby as the drop-lid is opened the tray will be swung upward to receive mail-matter and on-closing the lid the tray will fall to drop the matter within the box, substantially as described. y

5. A mail-box fitted at its discharge-opening with two right-angularly disposed hinged doors coupled together for simultaneous operation, substantially as described.

6, A mail-box fitted at its discharge-opening with two hinged doors, one door having IOO IIO

slots and the other door having pins entering the slots and causing simultaneous operation of the doors, substantially as described.

7 A mail-box fitted at its discharge-opening formed partly in its front and partly in its bottom, with front and bottom doors at said opening, one door having slots and the other having pins entering the slots for operating the doors simultaneously, substantially as described.

8. A mail-box having a discharge-opening at its front and bottom Walls and provided with doors adapted to close said opening, and having inwardly-extending end guards, the guards of one door having slots and the guards of the other door having pins entering said slots for operating both doors simultaneously, substantially as described.

9. A mail-box fitted at its discharge-opening with two hinged doors provided with inwardly-projecting end guard-plates engaging each other for simultaneous operation of the doors, Combined with guards fixed to the interior of the box and covering the end guards of the closed doors, substantially as described.

10. A inail-box provided With a dischargeopening formed partly in its front and partly in its bottom, combined With front and bottom doors coupled together for simultaneous operation, and a chute at the rear lower corv ner of thebox delivering the mail-matter as the doors are opened, substantially as described. v

IRA G. LANE.

Witnesses:

HENRY L. GOODWIN, O. SEDGWICK. 

